as in murdering
to kill on a large scale
modern poultry farms slaughter a vast number of chickens every day
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of slaughtering
Livestock numbers are strictly controlled on Tristan, and the community manages the herd by occasionally slaughtering animals for meat and leather.
—
NPR, 4 Apr. 2026
One thinks of the hundred brothers that Donald Antrim imagined, gathering in the ancestral home to honor their father’s memory and ritually slaughtering one of their own.
—Christine Smallwood, Harpers Magazine, 24 Mar. 2026
Before openly slaughtering thousands of protesters last month, Iran’s leaders had rejected chance after chance to improve the lives of their own people.
—Bloomberg Opinion, Twin Cities, 26 Feb. 2026
After recently slaughtering thousands of peaceful protesters, including shooting protesters in their hospital beds, Iran has been elected by the UN to serve as vice chair of the UN Commission for Social Development.
—Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 18 Feb. 2026
During one of her tantrums, Cathy walks by Heathcliff and other hired hands slaughtering a pig, the blood flooding the courtyard of Wuthering Heights.
—Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 16 Feb. 2026
Some parts of Route 65 looked more like an artillery range, with rim-bending, tire-tearing, and suspension-slaughtering potholes blossoming from the black top.
—Ross Guidotti, CBS News, 16 Feb. 2026
In Jonathan Miles’s novella, a man is tasked with saving an island sanctuary by slaughtering thousands of goats.
—Ron Charles, Washington Post, 4 Feb. 2026
The pearl-clutchers are stuck in the past, blubbering over things like the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War or the Waffen-SS slaughtering 84 American soldiers captured in Malmedy, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge.
—Doug McIntyre, Oc Register, 7 Dec. 2025
NPR, 4 Apr. 2026
One thinks of the hundred brothers that Donald Antrim imagined, gathering in the ancestral home to honor their father’s memory and ritually slaughtering one of their own.
—Christine Smallwood, Harpers Magazine, 24 Mar. 2026
Before openly slaughtering thousands of protesters last month, Iran’s leaders had rejected chance after chance to improve the lives of their own people.
—Bloomberg Opinion, Twin Cities, 26 Feb. 2026
After recently slaughtering thousands of peaceful protesters, including shooting protesters in their hospital beds, Iran has been elected by the UN to serve as vice chair of the UN Commission for Social Development.
—Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 18 Feb. 2026
During one of her tantrums, Cathy walks by Heathcliff and other hired hands slaughtering a pig, the blood flooding the courtyard of Wuthering Heights.
—Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 16 Feb. 2026
Some parts of Route 65 looked more like an artillery range, with rim-bending, tire-tearing, and suspension-slaughtering potholes blossoming from the black top.
—Ross Guidotti, CBS News, 16 Feb. 2026
In Jonathan Miles’s novella, a man is tasked with saving an island sanctuary by slaughtering thousands of goats.
—Ron Charles, Washington Post, 4 Feb. 2026
The pearl-clutchers are stuck in the past, blubbering over things like the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War or the Waffen-SS slaughtering 84 American soldiers captured in Malmedy, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge.
—Doug McIntyre, Oc Register, 7 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for slaughtering
Verb
-
Some progressives have cheered Luigi Mangione for murdering Brian Thompson, a health-care CEO.—
Jonathan Chait,
The Atlantic,
28 Apr. 2026
-
The unsealed indictment formally charges Bowen with murdering Metayer Bowen with a firearm and tampering with evidence.—
Shira Moolten,
Sun Sentinel,
28 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Iran is at war, and its regime, after massacring protesters in January, has now hardened in combat.—
Arash Azizi,
The Atlantic,
4 Apr. 2026
-
The regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran is massacring young people and destroying Iran’s future.—
Benjamin Weinthal,
FOXNews.com,
19 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
But all that would change after the July 7, 2021, slaying of Haiti’s president, when both agents would eventually cut off contact with Pretel and the FBI terminated its contractual engagement with him.—
Jacqueline Charles,
Miami Herald,
23 Apr. 2026
-
Field, 44, was released from prison just last year after serving a 24-year sentence for the April 29, 2000, slaying.—
Thomas Tracy,
New York Daily News,
16 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
In practice, this means that before executing movements, the humanoid predicts potential environmental changes and evaluates possible outcomes, as part of a simulation-first approach that is becoming central to physical AI development.—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
30 Apr. 2026
-
Police found a 9 mm bullet casing inside the car when executing a search warrant.—
Deborah Laverty,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Some had been there so long that corrosion was destroying them.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
1 May 2026
-
This past offseason, discussion and speculation around Major League Baseball was that the Los Angeles Dodgers would be responsible for destroying the sport and the 2027 season.—
Ian Miller OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
30 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The name Business Wire likely derives from the terms news wires or wire services, which recall the mid-19th-century method of dispatching news via telegraph, sending electrical signals via wire across great distances.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
27 Apr. 2026
-
After dispatching her parents from Phoenix to inspect the property, the couple decided to go ahead with the purchase.—
Jonathan Bullington,
Chicago Tribune,
26 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
ProPublica has chronicled the dark world of pig butchering, in which human traffickers in Asia force their victims to scam people by posing as friends or potential romantic interests.—
Robert Faturechi,
ProPublica,
11 Apr. 2026
-
While pig butchering operations are veering toward the sophisticated and professional, horrendous abuses persist.—
Charlie Campbell,
Time,
7 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Slaughtering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/slaughtering. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
